The article names no builder. It says the church was probably built during the patriarchate of Isaac, and that an earlier building may have stood elsewhere on the site. The infobox gives the 3rd century, while the sources it cites place the primitive church between the 3rd and 7th centuries. Pope Abraham largely rebuilt it between 975 and 978.
It has a basilica plan inside a rectangular wall, with three apses and no transepts. It is reached by 29 steps, which gave it the name Staircase Church. An 11th-century porch and a 19th-century facade with twin bell towers were added later.
Governor Ali ibn Yahia partly destroyed it in 840, and it was a mosque until the 10th century. A column removal caused a ceiling collapse in 1983. Restoration after 1998 was completed in 2011. It holds 110 icons.
Comments